Oral History Kits Tap Failing Memories

A swatch of denim, a cowbell or a circus poster may be all it takes to prompt memories that preserve the past.

“It’s talking about life. Memories need to be shared, whether good or bad, and we should listen to what (elderly) people have to say and why it’s important,” said Kathryn Leide, who with her partner has developed kits intended to stir up the past and stir the recollections of older men and women.

The kits cover such themes as county fairs, the Depression, the home front, farm days, school days, work life, train rides and aprons.

The kits, described as a multisensory, multimedia approach to reaching the elderly and others, contain videotape cassettes, slides, song books, fabrics, scent cards and items such as rationing stamps, sports pennants, old train schedules and circus posters.

Leide and Lynne Erickson organized their nonprofit corporation, Bi-Folkal Productions Inc. of Madison, about 14 years ago. They sell or rent about $300,000 worth of kits a year.

They first sold the kits to libraries, then expanded to nursing homes, prisons, colleges, state hospitals and day-care centers around the country.

“I’ve never not had a lot of reaction from their material,” said Lethene Parks, a former librarian for the Washington State Library who has used the kits in workshops in mental hospitals.

The corporation blossomed from a college library services class project.

“We found that standard book talk didn’t do enough for older adults,” Leide said. “The multisensory approach, using things they can see, smell and touch, takes into account their physical limitations.”

Once at a Maryland nursing home a pair of older men who rarely spoke to anyone got into a heated argument about unionism in the 1940s after a group session using one of the kits, Leide recalled.

“They were actually yelling at each other. We were surprised and apologized to the project coordinator, but she thought the reaction was wonderful, to see they still had feelings that strong and opened up was good,” Leide said.

On another occasion, Erickson said she was told a man in a wheelchair got up and started dancing the Charleston. When nursing home officials reacted with surprise that he could even walk, he responded, “I can, I just never had a reason to before.”

The women said their product evokes sad as well as happy memories.

“Oh, there are many tears. The ‘Farm Days’ kit deals with the family farm when these people were young, and many people lost the family farm back then,” Leide said.

“We included the Depression as a kit because we found so many older people use it as a benchmark when they try to remember something that happened in their lives,” Erickson said.